Built with value in mind ($1195 US list price), the 5017 is designed to provide industry leading sonic performance with a versatile feature set capable of functioning in many different capacities. Indispensable for both recording and live performance, the 5017 assures that classic sound is always within reach. An engineer could use his or her 5017 as an inexpensive means to add new high-end analogue mic amplification, instrument amplification, vari-phase adjustment and compression to their studio while also taking advantage of the 5017’s portability to enhance their live performances or location recording.

The Portico 5017’s microphone and instrument amplifiers provide the sweet, musical response expected from a Rupert Neve design. With ultra low distortion, exceptional bandwidth and the flexibility of Silk, the 5017’s amplifiers can faithfully reproduce and even enhance every detail captured by a microphone or instrument.

Based around a new LDR (light dependent resistor) design, the 5017’s opto-coupler compressor has been simplified to a single threshold control with auto make-up gain. By default the compressor is set to a fixed 2:1 ratio with an internal jumper to change between standard and fast time constants. To set the compressor, simply dial the threshold control down until the desired amount of compression is achieved. A built-in LED indicates when the compressor is active.

Used as a two-channel device, a vocalist and a guitar player, for example, can take the foremost studio quality of the 5017 wherever they go, using the 5017 for a vocal mic pre and compressor as well as a separate DI for the guitar. To achieve this, the blend control should be selected as fully DI (blend off), and an internal jumper can be selected to apply the compressor to the mic pre signal. When engaged, Silk mode would affect both vocal and guitar tracks; the HPF control would affect only the mic path.

Used as a single-channel device for instruments, the 5017 can be used to phase align, combine and compress direct and amplified signals. To achieve this, use the DI for the instrument’s direct signal and the mic preamp for the speaker cabinet signal. The blend control is used for mixing direct and amplified signals to achieve the desired tonal blend between the two sources, and Vari-phase is used to minimize or attenuate phase cancellation between the two signals. To compress the blended signal, the internal compressor jumper must be set to the blend path (this is the default setting). This technique could also be used to create a single, mixed output of a guitar and vocal.

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